Flying the Nest
by Sweet Adversary
Summary: Yuffie leaves home, attempting to bring glory back to Wutai. My first fanfic. R & R please. Chapter 4 up!
1. Chapter 1: It Begins

This is the first chapter of my first fanfic in about 7 years. But hopefully my writing has improved a little since then... Anyway, it's basically telling the story of Yuffie before she met Cloud and the guys. Enjoy, and please leave your opinions!

**Disclaimer: **Do I really have to write this, I mean it's quite obvious I own absolutely nothing here. That's why it's a fanfic right? Anyway, I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of it's characters, I'm not using it for profit, etc. etc.

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**Flying the Nest**

**Chapter 1: It Begins...**

Wutai. The great city of ninjas, water gods, and undying hope. The backdrop for the Great War, in which the mighty Sephiroth spilt the blood of many on its soil. Home of the great Da-Chao, a legend amongst historians all over the planet. Popular tourist resort, boasting the Turtle's Paradise bar, serving the best cocktails this side of the Gold Saucer. Wutai's days of glory were over, its greatest achievement of the past five years being the refurbishment of the weapon shop. Not that it was used by anyone other than Lord Godo and his students these days.

Godo was sat atop his five storey pagoda, having just finished a training session with his students. Looking down onto the forecourt below, he sensed that the battle he was about to witness could have a far greater impact than anything he'd seen during the war.

"Don't mess with me brat! I mean it; I am not in the mood!" Yuffie Kisaragi thrust her four-pointed Shuriken at the small boy standing before her.

"I was just wondering why you happen to be making the least progress. Especially with you being Master Godo's daughter and all."

"Least progress!" Yuffie cried, a hint of disbelief in her voice, "Puh-lease shortstuff, I could take you with one arm tied behind my back!"

"Yuffie, you're such a child-" The boy began.

"Look who's talking!"

"I may be young, but my skill, prowess and maturity are of a much higher level than yours."

"Ya think?" Yuffie entered her combat stance; she'd been working on it all week, under the watchful eye of her father, "Well bring it Shake; we'll see who's immature!"

Shake sighed, bringing his arms up from his side, into a combat-ready position. As Yuffie lunged at him with her Shuriken, he dodged effortlessly to the side, causing her to stumble and lose her footing. Picking herself up off of the floor she entered her stance again and waited for her opponents attack. The boy ran at her, dodging every attack she threw at him, and punched her in the stomach.

"Gah…" Yuffie gasped for air; the little brat had winded her. Staggering to her feet she pointed her weapon at him, "You little cheat!"

"I think we've established where we both stand Yuffie," Shake said coolly, "Maybe you should ask Master Godo for a few extra lessons, I'm sure he'd be more than willing to make you work."

"Hey… Who said… We're… Finished yet?" Yuffie asked slowly, still trying to catch her breath.

Ignoring her, Shake walked off, leaving the crestfallen rookie hunched over the steps to the Pagoda of the Five Gods. She longed to be accepted as a ninja, and one day take over the large tower that loomed before her. As the daughter of the current Master, she would be next in line to assume the position, but if her skills did not improve, it was more likely to go to Shake, or one of Godo's other talented students. Oh how she resented Shake. The little pipsqueak just waltzed into the Pagoda one day asking for 'Lord' Godo to train him, and within a few weeks, he's one of the favourites! Downright despicable, favouring that little brat over his own flesh and blood.

"Yuffie!"

"Dad!" Yuffie jumped up.

"_I hope I wasn't thinking out loud again!" _she thought, smiling innocently.

"I saw your fight with Shake…" Godo began.

"I let him win!" Yuffie blurted out quickly, "You don't really think I'd lose to a little kid do you?"

"Yuffie, Shake is one of my more powerful students. Frankly, I'd have been surprised if you hadn't lost."

"Oh great Dad, I'm _so_ glad you've got so much faith in me." Yuffie huffed, turning her back on the large man standing at the top of the stairs.

"Yuffie, the fact is, you're a terrible ninja," He began, ignoring the shocked look on his daughters face as she quickly turned around to face him, "Now, I think it's quite obvious you need extra training. Meet me at the statue of Da-Chao in an hour."

Yuffie stood open mouthed, staring at her father as he made his way back into the pagoda. How dare he? A terrible ninja? She'd show him, she'd show everyone in Wutai what a ninja she could be. She stomped off to her house in the West side of the city, ignoring the greeting from a group of tourists outside the weapon shop as she passed. There were far too many of those guys around lately. Didn't they have anything better to do than tramp around her town taking pictures of the most mundane household objects?

"Terrible…" she muttered to herself, slamming open her door, "Fat, lazy, so called '_Master' _has the audacity to call me terrible!" Realising she was now shouting at Howie, her chocobo stuffed toy, she began to calm down.

"I'm sorry Howie, but I am just _so _cheesed off," she said apologetically, as she stuffed a small backpack with clean clothes and a few dry biscuits, "But I'll show him, I'll bring glory to the city! I'll be a hero!"

Howie just gave her a look that said "Here we go again. Something terrible is going to happen, I just know it."

"Don't give me that look Howie, I mean it this time," Yuffie said sternly, pointing at her bag, "Now get in; I'm not leaving you behind."

The statue of Da-Chao overlooked Wutai, it's many faces bearing down on the city, giving you the feeling that you were constantly being watched. Yuffie had always found it strangely comforting though; knowing that the city's guardians were always there. Legend had it that the statue was created by the water god Leviathan, to protect the city in his absence.

As Yuffie climbed the mountain, she began to feel a little nervous. Looking out at the surrounding wilderness, she realised she'd never actually set foot more than a few hundred yards out of the city.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this Howie," She began, "You know, I'm sure Dad didn't mean that whole thing about me being a terrible ninja. I think I can find it in my heart to forgive him."

"Yuffie? Are you talking to yourself?"

"Oh! Hi Dad!"

"Get a move on Yuffie, we've got a lot of work to do," Godo said, grabbing his young student, "A _lot _of work."

"Of course Dad, I just wanna make you proud y'know"

"It'll be a long time before that happens Yuffie."

"_Oh that is it!" _Yuffie thought,_ "There is no way I'm forgiving that obstinate pig!"_

"Now, we'll start with a bit of meditation, go and-"

"I've had enough Dad, I'm leaving the city."

"What?"

"I'm leaving."

"How do you expect to become a ninja if you leave the city? You will bring shame upon Wutai!"

"_I'll_ bring shame to Wutai? _You've_ already done that! What happened to the great and powerful Wutai from the stories and legends? You've turned it into a cheesy resort town!"

Godo opened his mouth to respond, but apparently thought better of it, a hurt look growing on his face.

"Yuffie," He began, a hint of embarrassment in his voice, "I lost the war… It's true; I have brought shame upon Wutai. But since then… We have no power anymore. The Shinra took all of our materia, and we haven't been able to get anymore into the city. Materia is made by condensing Mako energy. And to do that, you need Mako reactors, which just so happen to be all owned by Shinra. I'm sorry Yuffie. I've only been harsh on you because I don't want you to become a failure like me…"

Yuffie stood staring at her father for a few minutes, while he stared off over the city. She hadn't really thought about what she was going to do once she'd left the city, but now she knew what she had to do.

"Materia? That's what all this about? So if I were to find a lot of powerful materia we'd be able to bring glory back to Wutai right?"

Godo didn't answer, he just continued to look into the distance.

"I mean it, I can do this."

Godo turned to his daughter, an anxious look on his face, "You're not ready Yuffie, you can't…"

"Don't start Dad!" Yuffie pointed her finger at him, "I am going to leave the city, I'm going to find us some materia, and I'm going to become the best darn ninja Wutai has ever seen!"

"I'm just worried about you Yuffie…"

"Don't worry Dad, I've got Howie with me," Yuffie exclaimed cheerfully, "Now I've got a lot of work to do, no time to waste!"

Before Godo could open his mouth to say anything, Yuffie was skipping down the mountain, whistling cheerfully.

"Who's Howie?"


	2. Chapter 2: Mmm, fish!

Author's notes: Well here we go, chapter 2. I honestly didn't think anyone would read this so I was pleasantly surprised when I got not just one, but two reviews. Anyway, thank you very much to DarkElena and Drywater for your reviews. This chapter starts off a little slow, but stick with it, or alternatively, just skip to the second half for some action!Well, without further ado, here it is...

Oops, one more thing;

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters. I do own a few characters in this chapter however, so yay me.

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**Chapter 2: Mmm, fish...**

"Well Howie, this is it. We're actually gonna do it. Say goodbye to the life you once knew. From now on we've gotta fight to survive, it's a big, bad world out there. And we've _always _gotta be on the lookout for materiaDon't wanna be missing any chances."

Taking one last look at Da-Chao, and praying to Leviathan to keep her safe, Yuffie prepared to take the biggest step of her life. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked out of the city. There was a small dock on the South coast of the island where she'd hopefully be able to hitch a ride. One of the fishermen that worked there often stopped by the city to sell his catch, and Yuffie was always showing off to him with stories of her great feats as a ninja. And if not, well, she'd just have to stow away.

About ten minutes had passed, and Yuffie was starting to get hungry. She turned around to look at the city she'd left, and realised it was already out of sight.

"_Wow," _She thought,_ "This is the furthest I've ever been away from home… I'm such a loser!" _Deciding now would be as good a time as any to stop for lunch, she sat down and opened her bag to find a beaky little face peering out at her. Taking Howie out of the bag, she set him down beside her while she took out a biscuit and started to eat.

"Y'know Howie," She said with a mouthful of crumbs, "Thish ishn't anywhere near ash hard ash I thought it would be." Swallowing she carried on, "Dad and the others are always like, 'Oh, you can't go outside the city Yuffie, there are all sorts of monsters! Blah blah blah!' But we're having no trouble!"

After packing up her bag she climbed to her feet to continue her journey, carrying the chocobo in her arms, deciding to give him a bit of fresh air for a while. Her destination was still a few hours away.

"Why did they have to build this place so far away from the city?" She said, thinking out loud, "I mean, wouldn't it have been _so_ much easier to have it on one of the beaches at this end of the island?"

After she'd been walking for what seemed like hours, Yuffie saw a mountain coming into existence on the horizon. All she had to do was cross it, and she'd be at the dock. As she got closer, she realised that it was quite a lot bigger than she'd thought. Although she'd never been too far out of town before, she'd seen the mountain from the top of Da-Chao. You could practically see the whole island from up there. Yuffie tried not to think about Wutai too much. Hopefully she wouldn't be away for too long, but it had barely been two hours and she was already starting to feel a little homesick. Holding Howie tighter to her chest, she began her ascent up the gradual slope of the mountain.

The top of the mountain was relatively flat compares to the rest of it, Yuffie noticed, as she caught her breath. A short distance away, there was a shabby rope bridge perched across a drop of about 50 feet.

"That bridge doesn't look too stable," Yuffie said to the stuffed bird in her arms, "I'd better put you back in my bag for now."

Little Howie now safe in her backpack, Yuffie cautiously made her way towards the bridge. It looked as if it could barely hold her weight, but there was no other way.

"_And after all,"_ she thought,_ "The_ _fishermen had to come this way to get to Wutai, so it must be safe."_

Deciding to trust the bridge, Yuffie stepped onto it. It wobbled uneasily. How anyone could get across here carrying a crate full of fish was beyond her. Treading softly from plank to plank, she eventually reached the halfway point. Looking South over the gorge, she could see that they were another two rope bridges precariously creating paths to the other side of the mountain.

"Oh great," she muttered to herself, "As if risking my life once wasn't enough."

One and a half bridges later, and she finally set eyes on her destination. After the final crossing, she'd only be walking for ten more minutes before arriving at the dock. This one looked even less sturdy than the last two, but she'd come this far, there was no turning back now. First step… No problems. Second step… Going well. A few steps later, and Yuffie was no longer nervous. Reaching the end, she stepped back onto solid ground, and let out a sigh of relief. Not wanting to waste any time, the young ninja hurried on, but stopped when she heard a deafening crash echo through the mountains. Slowly turning around, she took in the scene. The third bridge had completely gone. Peering over the edge, Yuffie saw that the bridge had fallen, and by the looks of it, crushed a few monsters. She didn't know what they were, but by the looks of the green slime splattered around the area, they were bugs of some sort.

"Oopsy," Yuffie giggled, looking down at the mess she had caused, "Hey wait a minute – I killed my first monsters! Woohoo!" Resisting the urge to dance around, she ran off down the mountain towards her next stop.

As Yuffie got closer to the dock, and she could see her destination more clearly, she noticed something a little odd. Surely those boats shouldn't be left unmanned? And why where all those fish just lying about all over the place? Where was everybody?

"Hello!" Yuffie called out, "Is anybody here?"

Rounding the corner of the boat house, she saw the reason for the fishermen's absence.

"Oh shhh-ugar!"

Yuffie was almost blown off her feet when she came face to face with a huge, enraged, roaring creature, looking like a cross between a turtle and Bahamut. Of course, Yuffie had never seen Bahamut, but she imagined him to be quite scary. After quickly running off in the opposite direction for a few seconds, she stopped.

"_I'm supposed to be the ninja here," _she thought, _"I guess I'd better put my training to good use."_

Turning around to face the beast, Yuffie grabbed her shuriken from her belt and threw it towards the monster. _Clang! _It bounced off of its shell and flew back towards her. Grabbing it from the air, Yuffie stepped back to assess the situation.

"Its shell is obviously super hard," she said to herself, "So I'll have to get in close and attack it from underneath. Yeah, that's right!"

Ducking her head, Yuffie charged at the beast. Just as she was about to slash, it lifted one of its enormous feet and kicked her away. She landed ten feet away, in a pile of fish. Lying there for a second, attempting to recover some of the energy that blow took out of her, Yuffie heard an awful roar coming from the monster's direction. She quickly jumped to her feet and looked towards it. An old man was standing with his spear impaled very close to the monsters neck, just underneath its shell.

"You ok there missy?" He asked her.

Yuffie stood open mouthed for a second, trying to take in what had just happened, "Er… Yeah, fine."

The monster was still roaring, and now flailing too. Yuffie figured she'd better help the old guy out, but before she had a chance to act, two more guys swept in, spears at the ready, and attacked the monster. One of them she recognised.

"Errol? What's going on here?"

The youngest of the men turned to Yuffie, leaving the other two to finish off the snarling fiend.

"The Adamantaimai like the smell of the fish," Errol explained, "We get attacked on average twice a month, we know how to handle it by now."

Apparently just noticing who he was speaking to, Errol broke out into a smile, "Hey Yuff! Long time no see! What brings you this far South?"

Yuffie was still staring at the men cleaning their spears next to the dead monster. Today was not her day. First she gets beaten in a fight by a ten year old, and now she's upstaged by a bunch of old geezers, and Errol of course.

"I… I…" Yuffie stammered.

"Come inside," The first old man said to Yuffie, walking into a small, water stained hut, "I'll make you some tea."


	3. Chapter 3: Row, row, row your boat

Hello! I'm in a good mood at the moment, because I just beat Ruby and Emerald weapon for the first time ever! Seven years of owning the game and I never managed it before... That's pretty pathetic... Oh well, here's the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the characters, places, or anything else in this story... Actually, that's not completely true, but let's just pretend that it is.

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**Chapter 3: Row, row, row your boat**

The tea tasted distinctly of fish. That was all Yuffie could think about, sitting in that pokey little hut by the shore. The three men were outside, disposing of the deceased monster. It sounded like quite an effort. Yuffie considered going out to help them, but quickly remembered what had happened outside.

"_Right," _she thought, _"They probably don't need my help."_

Looking around her, she wondered how the three men coped with living in this tiny building together. An assortment of pots and pans hung from the ceiling in the part of the hut that Yuffie could only assume was the kitchen. Behind her, three bunks sat above each other, the top one considerably messier than the others. Next to the beds, there was a chest. The lid slightly ajar, she could see a faint glow inside. It hit her. How could these old guys be so much stronger than a young, agile, highly trained ninja such as herself? They had to have been using materia. Getting up off of her chair, she made a beeline for the trunk.

"You ok there young lady?" One of the old men walked in the door.

Yuffie jumped a foot in the air, "F… Fine. Just looking for the sugar."

The old man, seemingly satisfied by this, sat down at the table stroking his beard. Yuffie joined him as the other two came in. Errol walked over to the chest and closed the lid before joining everyone else at the table.

"So Yuffie," He said with a grin, "You gonna tell us what you're doing this far from home?"

Yuffie stared into her empty teacup. What was she going to say? She could hardly tell them she was running away from home. "My father sent me on a journey to help the town…"

Errol looked interested, "Go on…" he prompted.

"Well, since, y'know, the whole war thing, you might have noticed that the city's been a little…"

"Tacky?" The old man with the beard suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose," Yuffie continued, "Well anyway, Dad wants me to go find some materia. That way, Wutai can become powerful again."

"But why send you?" Errol asked, "Why not go himself?"

"Well, my old man's getting on a bit y'know, and what with me being the next best ninja in town…"

"The next best ninja?" The old man that had been silent so far piped up, "We had to save you from an Adamantaimai!"

"If you hadn't have interfered I would've whooped that beastie's ass!" Yuffie retorted.

"Whoa guys, calm down!" Errol held out his hands, "so how are you planning to find materia Yuff?"

"Err… I hadn't really thought about that yet…"

"Pfft!" The old man snorted.

"Well I'm making a delivery to Gongaga in the morning," Errol told her, "Shinra built a reactor there a while back."

"Of Course! Mako reactors! If I can get into one of those there'll be plenty of materia!"

"And what are you going to do? Steal it?" The old man asked.

"If I have to. It's the Shinra for crying out loud! It's their fault Wutai is like this in the first place!"

In response, the old man just grunted and turned his back.

"You can stay here for tonight," Errol told Yuffie, "take my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

Yuffie looked to where he was pointing. A scruffy looking sofa sat in the corner of the room, looking about as comfortable to sleep on as a lumpy Cactuar.

"Ok."

The rest of the evening passed slowly, and Yuffie didn't talk to anyone much besides Errol. When it had been dark for a few hours, everyone clambered into their beds.

After a few hours, Yuffie was still staring at the rotten wooden ceiling, unable to get to sleep. Peeking over the edge of her bed, she saw the chest she'd noticed earlier. Everyone else was asleep, and all snoring very loudly.

"Geez, I'm glad I'm only staying the one night," Yuffie whispered to the stuffed bird perched next to her pillow, "These guys are snoring louder than Dad does."

She gently dropped down onto the floor, trying not to wake anyone, which was quite a feat, seeing as she was on the top bunk. Creeping over to the chest, she carefully prised it open. A loud creak escaped, causing Yuffie to drop the lid, letting it slam shut.

"Uh, whassat?" The grumpy old man woke up and looked around the room, "Urr, musta bin nothin'." He grumbled, rolling over and going back to sleep.

Clutching Howie, Yuffie sat in her bunk.

"_Maybe I'll just leave it," _she thought, _"Errol is giving me a ride to the mainland, after all."_

Yuffie woke to the sound of seagulls squawking on the roof. The early morning sunshine spilled in through the open window, bringing with it the salty smell of the sea.

"Morning Yuffie," Errol said, "Mack's cooking up some kippers for breakfast."

She looked out of her bunk to the kitchen. The old man with the beard was boiling something on the stove. She assumed he was Mack, she hadn't bothered to ask the fishermen their names the previous night. Crawling out of her bed and plopping onto the floor below, Yuffie sank into a chair by the table, avoiding the gaze of the less friendly old man.

"Any of you hear anything last night?" He asked, looking suspiciously at Yuffie.

"Oh, er… That was probably me; I dropped my chocobo during the night."

"Chocobo?" Errol asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, his name's Howie." Yuffie said cheerfully, pointing towards the top bunk.

Mack placed a plate of kippers in front of her, handing her a knife and fork.

"Thanks!" She said, digging in.

"We're gonna leave at about nine," Errol said, "So make sure you get your stuff ready."

Yuffie hurriedly finished her breakfast and climbed back up into her bunk. Gathering Howie and her clothes, she threw them into her bag, before proceeding to jump down onto the floor. She walked out of the hut to find Errol loading his boat. It was a shabby looking thing, just big enough to hold them both, along with the crates of fish. Luckily, the sea was looking quite calm today, and there was very little wind. Yuffie felt slightly relieved. She didn't like the idea of having to spend a few hours on the open sea as it was, and being in the middle of a storm would not help matters at all.

"All ready?" Errol asked, tying down the last crate.

"Yep." Yuffie walked over to the boat and cautiously stepped in to join him.

"Whoa…" Yuffie stumbled as the boat started to rock, "Is it going to be like this the whole journey?"

"It'll be a lot worse once we're away from land," Errol told her, untying the boat and letting it slowly drift away from the shore.

Yuffie sat down on the little plank that she assumed was a seat of some sort and sighed. She didn't like boats, she decided. She just hoped this trip wouldn't take long. Now that they'd left land, the rocking motion of the boat had gotten worse, and she was starting to feel quite sick.

After about an hour of rowing, Errol put down the oars. Yuffie wondered why he was stopping. There was no sign of land in any direction, and her seasickness wasn't easing up at all.

"So Yuffie, what are you gonna do with all this materia when you find it?"

"I'm going to bring glory back to Wutai…" Yuffie began, but found that talking didn't help her sickness.

"I know that," Errol said, "But how? I mean, I've never quite understood how materia works."

"But… you used materia…ugh… yesterday…with the adamantai…urk…mai."

"Yeah, I know how to use it, but how does it work exactly? How is it that using materia makes us stronger, or able to use magic?"

Yuffie tried to think back to her training as a ninja. She was sure Godo had told her about how materia works. She couldn't think with her stomach doing somersaults inside her. Oh well, at least talking about materia would help her to take her mind off of it.

"Well…urgh…you know how you have to attach the materia to your weapon or armour to be able to use it? Well… ugh… the magical energy or whatever it is that's in the materia flows through your equipment and enters your body. Ugh… so basically, the magic comes out of the materia and goes into you, allowing you to use it… I think…"

"I think I get it," Errol said, "Hey, are you ok? You look a little pale."

"I'm… uh… fine…" Yuffie told him, trying to ignore the rocking of the boat.

"Seasickness huh? You know what's good for that? Tranquilizers."

"Great!" Yuffie perked up a little at the mention of a cure, "You got any?"

"Nope."

Yuffie sighed and slumped down into her seat while Errol picked up the oars and continued rowing. Not much longer now and they'd be at Gongaga, where she'd find plenty of materia and be able to return home. And best of all, the recovery of Wutai would be at the expense of Shinra! Thinking about how she'd be worshipped as a hero when she returned home cheered Yuffie up a bit. And she'd finally have some real tales to show off, rather than those she just made up. A shame though, she did enjoy inventing stories. Oh well, one last time couldn't hurt.

"Hey Errol, did I ever… gah… tell you about that time I fought off 20 Garudas on top of Da-Chao?"

"Yeah, I think you did… Oh no, wait, that was the 15 Tonberrys. I still can't believe there was a nest of them up there…"

"Hehe, yeah. Anyway, Dad sent this annoying kid called… ow… Shake to train with me up on Da-Chao. The stupid little brat ran off and… ugh… when I found him, he was surrounded by a whole load of these Garuda things, flapping their wings all over the…urgh… place," Yuffie paused for a little while to catch her breath. Telling stories wasn't easy when your stomach was trying to turn itself inside out, "So I ran up to them, Shuriken at the ready, dodging every bolt of lightning they…urk… threw at me. Half an hour later, and I'm dragging the kid down the mountain, leaving a cave full of dead monsters."

"Wow Yuffie, being a ninja must be so exciting," Errol said, trying as hard as he could to convince Yuffie that he believed her, "It's so boring being a fisherman; wake up, catch fish, kill adamantaimai, deliver fish to faraway land, come home, go to sleep. That's about it."

"Ugh… It's a tough life," Yuffie said, "But I enjoy it."

The rest of the journey passed quite quickly. Telling the story seemed to tire Yuffie out, and she said nothing else, bar a few complaints that the boat was rocking too much. When they finally arrived at their destination, Yuffie was out of the boat before Errol even had a chance to tie it up.

"Man am I glad that's over!" Yuffie exclaimed, obviously feeling a lot better after getting out of the boat.

"Gongaga is in the middle of that forest over there," Errol said, pointing to the North, "We'll probably run into a few monsters before we get there. Quite glad I brought you along now." He smiled.

"No problem!" said Yuffie, jumping in the air, "Bring 'em on!"

After tying up the boat and picking up the first crate of fish, Errol lead the way into the forest. The trees bustled with the noise of birds and insects. Yuffie noticed they were following a small path where the grass had worn away. Suddenly, Errol stopped.

"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked him.

"Don't move…"

"What? There's nothing here, it's just a little froggy."

Errol backed away, "Stay away from it."

Yuffie walked towards the frog, "Aww, is Errol being mean to you little froggy?"

"Yuffie! Don't touch it!"

Yuffie turned around to look at Errol, holding the frog in her hands, "Errol, why are you so scared of a frog? Ouch!" The frog bit her on the finger and jumped out of her hands, running off into the forest.

"Yuffie! Are you ok?"

Yuffie looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Of course I'm ok, it was just a… Ribbit"

"Oh no…"

Standing where Yuffie had been was now a small green frog.

"I told you to stay away from it," Errol said, shaking his head, "Here, drink this…" He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small bottle. Walking over to Yuffie, he uncorked it, and poured it into her little green mouth.

A few seconds later, Yuffie was standing in the forest, human again, and with a shocked look on her face. "Wha…what?"

"You should listen to me more often," Errol said, picking up his crate and continuing on, "Now let's get a move on. And stay away from the frogs."


	4. Chapter 4: Materia and Moaners

Hey y'all. Well here's chapter 4, sorry it took so long.

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**Chapter 4: Materia and Moaners**

"Man, am I glad to be out of there!" Yuffie scrambled her way through a bush and tumbled onto the other side.

"Hurry up Errol, or the froggies'll getcha!" she called back to the forest. She could have sworn she saw a pair of beady little eyes behind one of the trees. "Damn froggies…" she muttered.

When Errol finally managed to drag his crate of fish out of the forest, he sat down beside Yuffie, who was staring at the small village to which the nearby path lead.

"Wow, these guys are a real bunch of party animals," She remarked sarcastically, referring to the moping villagers trudging slowly towards them, "And what's with the scrap all over the place? Didn't they ever hear of street cleaners? Geez…"

"Errol…" The man who, judging by his clothes, Yuffie assumed was the mayor said, "I thought we made it quite clear that we would not be requiring any more of your _deliveries_."

"Hey, a young fisherman's got to make a living right?" Errol grinned, "And this'll be the last one, I promise."

"And who might this be?" The mayor gestured towards the young ninja.

"This is Yuffie. She's here to see the reactor."

The mayor said nothing. Instead, he turned and walked back towards the village. One of the other villagers stepped forward.

"You may come and stay at the inn for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, someone'll take you up to the reactor."

Yuffie jumped up from the floor, and followed the man as he gestured for them to come with him. As they approached the centre of the village, Yuffie noticed there was even more scrap metal lying around, and that the houses were all very shabby, most in a state of disrepair. She'd never seen a town like this before. Wutai was always filled with happy go lucky tourists. She hated that. And yet, she disliked this even more. People should be happy, most of the time at least. She had only ever been depressed once in her life, and that was when her mother had died during the war. After that, she realised she had to make the most of life, and have as much fun as possible. What could have happened to cause the whole village misery?

"So, erm… What's the story behind this place?" Yuffie asked the man she was following.

He didn't answer. Yuffie was starting to become irritated. She didn't like being ignored, and that was all these guys seemed to do.

"Oh come on! What is it with you people? I can't take this any more, what's with the misery?"

Errol put his hand on Yuffie's shoulder, "Yuffie… Maybe you should just leave it. We won't be here long, let's just carry on."

Yuffie sighed. She got the feeling she wouldn't enjoy her stay in Gongaga. She took one last look at the miserable villagers before making her way into the inn after Errol.

The inn was very warm, with a fire roaring in the corner. A jolly looking man led them into a back room, where three beds were made up.

"Just the two of you is it? That's unusual; we usually book groups of three. Come to think of it, I have no idea why that is…" The man began with a smile, "Anyway, we've only got the three single beds I'm afraid, no doubles."

"What?" Yuffie looked at Errol, confused, "Ohmygosh! You think Errol and I are a couple?" She burst out laughing.

"Is it that funny?" Errol asked her, looking rather hurt.

"I take it you're just friends," The man said, chuckling, "My name's Stephen, and I'll be making sure your stay here is as comfortable as possible."

Yuffie looked at him, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, "Hey, why aren't you as grumpy as everyone else in this village?"

Stephen's smile grew a little smaller, "Well, I only just moved to Gongaga. I inherited this inn from my uncle, who died in the accident. I barely knew him, but I was his only nephew."

"Accident?"

"The mayor doesn't like us to talk about it really. You're going to the reactor tomorrow, right? You'll hear all about the accident, I guess."

Yuffie remembered what Errol had said, and decided to drop the subject. Instead, she went and sat on her bed, took her Shuriken off her back, and started to unpack her bag. She pulled Howie out, and put him on the bedside table, next to a small lamp shaped like a Mog. It was already getting dark, Yuffie noticed. Just how long had that boat journey taken? She lay down on her bed and looked over at Errol. He was already asleep. Then again, he was dragging that huge crate of fish all the way here, he must have been tired. Rolling over, she looked at Howie.

"How could he think Errol and I were together like _that_?" she whispered to the toy, "I mean, I wasn't acting in any way that would make him think that. _Was I?_" She lay there for a few minutes more, staring at the ceiling, before she slowly drifted off to sleep.

"_He did help you get all the way here. He must like you. A little, at least."_

"_Shut up Howie, I'm not interested in him. I'm only interested in getting materia. I can't get distracted."_

"_You know that's not true. You always used to try and impress him back in Wutai."_

"…_Whatever."_

Yuffie woke up to the sound of Errol complaining to himself whilst looking through his bag.

"Errol…"

"Oh, hi Yuffie. Sleep well?" Errol quickly closed his bag and threw it under his bed.

"Yeah, had a weird dream though."

"Really? What about?"

"Oh… I… Err, I don't really remember…"

"Oh well, the guide to the reactor should be here soon. You want me to come with you?"

"Err… That'd be nice."

Yuffie quickly turned away. She felt herself going red, so she decided to busy herself with getting some clean clothes from her bag.

"I'm gonna go get washed and changed," She said, rushing to the bathroom.

The bathroom was very cramped, its contents consisting of a toilet, a wash basin, and a bath, the latter of the three taking up at least half of the bathroom. Yuffie struggled to get changed in such a confined space, before fighting her way back to the bedroom, just in time to hear the mayor arrive, talking to Stephen in the next room. Apparently, he wanted to take them himself.

"Finally, we're going to the reactor. We'll be back to Wutai by dinner time! Woohoo!" Yuffie opened the door and walked up to the mayor, who was looking as mopey as ever.

"Come on Chuckles," Yuffie patted him on the back, "The sooner we go to the reactor, the sooner I can get out of this dump. No offense."

The mayor shot a disapproving look at her, and one bordering on disgusted at Errol.

"Come then."

The mayor led the way out of the inn, into the village square. A whole group of the villagers were standing in the distance, whispering amongst themselves and occasionally glancing over at Yuffie and Errol. One woman in the group appeared to be crying. As the mayor ushered them past the group Yuffie could have sworn one of the men was whispering threats to Errol. She really couldn't wait to leave. The mayor proceeded to walk them along the path they had used upon entering the village. To the East, Yuffie noticed a large building in the distance, surrounded by absolutely no vegetation of any kind, which was odd, considering they were in a forest.

"Is that it?" Yuffie asked.

"Of course it is." The mayor snapped.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Yuffie decided she'd better not speak in case the mayor bit her face off again, and Errol hadn't said a word since they'd left the inn. As they approached the reactor, Yuffie noticed that it looked a bit odd. She'd never seen a Mako reactor before, but this one certainly didn't look normal.

As they got even closer, it became clear what was odd about the reactor.

"What the…" Yuffie stopped in her tracks and stared at the building. It was a wreck. It looked as if there had been some kind of explosion, "What happened?"

"There was an explosion. Half of the town was killed. Shinra ruined our village. Ruined our lives!" The mayor looked away from them. "I want you both to leave the village by the end of the day."

"What? What has this got to do with us? It's not as if we blew up the reactor!"

The mayor turned back to Yuffie, "I don't know what involvement you have with Shinra, and I don't care. I want you to stay away from our village. Especially if you're travelling with him!"

Yuffie turned to look at Errol, but he was walking towards the reactor. What was this guy's problem with him? He's just a fisherman. She turned back to the mayor, and was about to ask him, but he was already on his way back to the village. She ran to catch up with Errol, who was already inside the reactor.

"Errol!" Yuffie called out to him as she made her way into the building. The reactor may have been a wreck, but it was still huge.

"_I can't believe the reactor's destroyed," _she thought, _"but there must be some materia around here somewhere, there's got to be!"_

She looked around desperately. She had no idea whereabouts in a normal reactor she'd find materia, let alone a ruined one. She turned a corner to find Errol inspecting a large tank in the corner of a room.

"Hey Errol, I can't seem to find any materia anywhere. It's pointless… I can't believe this…" She sighed.

Errol walked towards her, and held out his hands. In them, Yuffie saw a glowing yellow orb.

"Ohmygosh! Is that…?"

"Yep," Errol said, pushing the orb into Yuffie's hands "Found it in the tank over there."

"Thank you so much!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her arms around Errol's waist.

Errol chuckled, "No problem Yuff."

Yuffie let go of him, and prayed her face wasn't going red, "This is command materia," she said, "I can't wait to try it out!"

"We'll have to go get our stuff from the village…" Errol began.

"What is their problem?" Yuffie asked, "They're not exactly hospitable are they? And why does the mayor hate you so much?"

"He doesn't like the village doing business with outsiders," Errol replied, "I guess it's understandable…"

"He's just a crotchety old crab!"

The village was just as quiet as usual when they eventually made their way back, "_At least that mob has gone," _Yuffie thought, glad that they could get to the inn without being harassed.

"Hi guys," Stephen greeted them as they walked into the inn, "I hear the mayor's been giving you a hard time, eh? Don't take it personally."

Errol nodded at him, and walked through to the back room.

"I've just put the kettle on if you want some tea." Stephen offered.

"That'd be nice thanks." Yuffie answered, before following Errol.

This cup of tea was much nicer than the last one she had. Yuffie, Stephen and Errol were all sitting around the table.

"So what next Yuff? Back to Wutai?" Errol asked.

"No way! I need much more than just one piece of materia," Yuffie answered, "I guess I'm just gonna be away from home a little longer than expected."

"So where are you planning to head?"

"Err… I hadn't thought that far ahead." Yuffie never was one for planning.

"If it's materia you're after, you should head on over to the Gold Saucer," Stephen chirped up, "You're a ninja right? I hear they give away big prizes in the Battle Arena. Other than that, your best bet would be to head for one of the main Shinra cities."

"Midgar or Junon." Errol stated.

Yuffie thought about it for a moment, while she sipped her tea, "I guess I might as well check them all out, I need as much as I can get."

Errol looked at her for a moment, "… I'll come with you."

Yuffie stared at him, "What? But haven't you got to get back to Wutai?"

"I'm sure Mack and Fletcher can cope without me for a while," Errol said coolly, "And besides, I've got some business to deal with in Junon."

Yuffie knew he was lying, what business would a fisherman have in Junon? But she was grateful for the company, _"The fact that it's Errol makes absolutely no difference"_, she told herself, _"I'd be just as grateful with the company of anyone else."_

"Thank you."


End file.
